Any Ideas?

[Kokomo]

If he were, in fact, simply a Domestic Cat, then yes. I've withheld my thoughts here because both abyeb and Alejandra Rico have a formidable wealth of experience with certain breeds (Alejandra as a breeder, and Abyeb as a keen observer and aficionada of New Breeds, and especially Bengals) [aside: I'm surprised that @stefanz has not yet weight in on this thread, though perhaps for similar reasons], and in having spoken to two breeders who are "experimenting" with the newer Bengal colours (specifically Chocolate and Cinnamon), I believe that there's pretty fair visual evidence of Bengal bloodlines - and very possibly breeder (i.e. by intent, rather than by accident) bloodlines in the New Colours arena.

Chocolates are still very new, and they're incredibly striking cats, whether Marbled or not. Make a comparison of this Chocolate:

http://www.asuracats.co.uk/wp-conte...late-Bengal.-Photo-courtesy-of-Lori-Symes.jpg

and imagine a similar cat in recent heritage - perhaps back-crossed with another Bengal or with a Tabby, with the intent of manipulating the pattern. In light of the conversation above, and given what I've heard from two breeders, I'd be somewhat surprised to learn that he was, "just a red tabby," though it would require DNA examination to confirm otherwise. That aside, there's no denying the unanimous opinion that he's incredibly striking and that he wants to come to live in Olcott Beach.
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He looks so much like that cat! Especially in his body shape and head shape. And the coat/coloring is very similar! I hadn't even really considered the option of him being part Bengal as he was dumped by someone, and I always pictured Bengals as the more traditional color, but after having looked at the newer colors I can definitely see the resemblance.

If he does in fact have some Bengal history, is there any special food, or health needs special to them? Our Bobcat hybrid had a high meat content diet, would Kokomo be better served with a similar diet? I will be getting him neutered soon, are there any sort of special things I should be aware of for anesthesia or anything along those lines?

And thank you! He has totally stolen my heart. I am in the process of moving, and was planning on getting a new cat after I was all settled in, aiming for something small, and then he came along and I fell in love.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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"Bobcat hybrid?"
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[Kokomo]

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"Bobcat hybrid?"
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While I was growing up my family had a Bobcat hybrid, (sorry I don't know the correct terminology here for cats), but his mother was a feral domestic cat and his dad was a Bobcat. We had him for 17 years.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

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Bobcats are only interfertile with Lynx rufus, Lynx lynx and Lynx canadensis, but not with domestic cats. Bobcats are a wholly different genus and species from the Domestic Cat.
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[Kokomo]

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Bobcats are only interfertile with Lynx rufus, Lynx lynx and Lynx canadensis, but not with domestic cats. Bobcats are a wholly different genus and species from the Domestic Cat.
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Well according the the vet, and the wildlife folks we talked to, it does happen, so not sure what to say there. But, he is long gone. He was a very cool cat though. I don't know for sure what the mother was, but there was 100% Bobcat in his bloodlines.

As far as this cat, I feed high quality grain free food, but should I look into supplementing with more meat? He does eat more than any other cat I have ever had!

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Well according the the vet, and the wildlife folks we talked to, it does happen, so not sure what to say there. But, he is long gone. He was a very cool cat though. I don't know for sure what the mother was, but there was 100% Bobcat in his bloodlines.

As far as this cat, I feed high quality grain free food, but should I look into supplementing with more meat? He does eat more than any other cat I have ever had!

Yes, bengals do seem to have a big apetite. I think that your diet choices is pretty accurate. Some breeders prefer to feed bengals raw food only, some other even give them one-day-old chicken... To me, if you are feeding him a high protein content food and give him as much as he needs to grow big and healthy, I would say you are doing It pretty good. Of course, he will enjoy any kind of meat or fish that you may want to give him for ocasions, as they tend to prefer food that still looks like the one they would find in nature.
About his pattern, I agree with you, there is a resemblance, but both sides are not identical, they get more different as the distance yo the spine increases. So, I would say there is a certain asymmetry.
I wouldn't say there is any health related issue you should be worried about because of his bengal ancestor. As far as I know heart issues are not frequent. My only concern would be about the density of his bone for being spayed before finishing growing, but this is something which is still under Veterinary research and I think there won't be deffinitive answers by the while. Maybe in five years time or so. Just in case, feeding some extra calcium after spaying could be a good idea, as spayed animals can grow faster and more than unspayed ones (or just the opposite, depending onnthe cat), and this way you might be able to prevent osteoporosis.

 

[Kokomo]

Yes, bengals do seem to have a big apetite. I think that your diet choices is pretty accurate. Some breeders prefer to feed bengals raw food only, some other even give them one-day-old chicken... To me, if you are feeding him a high protein content food and give him as much as he needs to grow big and healthy, I would say you are doing It pretty good. Of course, he will enjoy any kind of meat or fish that you may want to give him for ocasions, as they tend to prefer food that still looks like the one they would find in nature.
About his pattern, I agree with you, there is a resemblance, but both sides are not identical, they get more different as the distance yo the spine increases. So, I would say there is a certain asymmetry.
I wouldn't say there is any health related issue you should be worried about because of his bengal ancestor. As far as I know heart issues are not frequent. My only concern would be about the density of his bone for being spayed before finishing growing, but this is something which is still under Veterinary research and I think there won't be deffinitive answers by the while. Maybe in five years time or so. Just in case, feeding some extra calcium after spaying could be a good idea, as spayed animals can grow faster and more than unspayed ones (or just the opposite, depending onnthe cat), and this way you might be able to prevent osteoporosis.

Thank you for the info. I will probably give him an extra treat of some meat a few times a week. I looked at him when I got home, and in just the right light he has a shiney look to him. His rosette on his left flank definitely has a light center with a dark edging. The dark part is just super thick and almost hides the light part.

At what age do you advise neutering? I defiantly don't want to keep him intact forever, but I'm also totally fine waiting for the best time for him. Thank you!

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Thank you for the info. I will probably give him an extra treat of some meat a few times a week. I looked at him when I got home, and in just the right light he has a shiney look to him. His rosette on his left flank definitely has a light center with a dark edging. The dark part is just super thick and almost hides the light part.

At what age do you advise neutering? I defiantly don't want to keep him intact forever, but I'm also totally fine waiting for the best time for him. Thank you!

The problem is that early neutering would most likely prevent your boy from spraying, which is good, so I wouldn't feel comfortable telling you to wait, so do It as soon as your veterinary tells you that It is ok. Besides, it will make it easier for him to be around other cats because he will not have testosterone making him behave "macho" like.
My concern is about recent studies that have found evidence that spaying before the animal is fully grown can have negative effects on its health, related to bone density and the organs which will have to compensate the lack of sexual organs, responsible of the production of hormones related to growth. However, as I said, this is a recent study and I am not 100% sure that the data used are fully reliable. I will follow this people's progress and take into account their progress, but I won't go arround preaching to wait 3 to 5 years before spaying or neutering a cat because that is totally against my wish to control feral population.
So, yes, spay him, just remember to feed him some extra Ca now and then so his bones can grow strong and not just long.

 

[di and bob]

Neuter as soon as your vet advises, they bounce back quickly and are back to normal when done young, usually in one day. My only cat that sprays was neutered at one year, and believe me, you don't want this going on. That is the cat that this vet wanted to wait on, saying neutering would retard his growth and make his urethra too small. Never happened. All the others were done less than 6 months and they have never sprayed. As many as I have had done, NONE have had complications from neutering. Only one complication from spaying, and that was quickly resolved. The big tom cats ignore them too, which is a good thing to avoid abscesses. If he is an inside cat, it will calm him down and stop him from wanting out all the time. All the luck!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Last year my cat (who is not a Bengal) had to have surgery on a luxated patella in her right knee. My previous two cats never had such issues, so I read up a lot on this topic so that I could know what was going on exactly with luxated patellas. While doing research on this prior to surgery, nearly everything I came across in my reading mentioned that Bengals are a breed that do have a few health issues connected to them, and definitely a hereditary tendency to experience luxated patellas was one of them. It takes hard work by a breeder and top quality Bengals to work to get this hereditary issue out of Bengal lines. Three other main health issues for Bengals (from my reading last year) could be progressive retinal atrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and a sensitivity to anesthesia (anesthetic allergies that can lead to cardiac arrest).

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Neuter as soon as your vet advises, they bounce back quickly and are back to normal when done young, usually in one day. My only cat that sprays was neutered at one year, and believe me, you don't want this going on. That is the cat that this vet wanted to wait on, saying neutering would retard his growth and make his urethra too small. Never happened. All the others were done less than 6 months and they have never sprayed. As many as I have had done, NONE have had complications from neutering. Only one complication from spaying, and that was quickly resolved. The big tom cats ignore them too, which is a good thing to avoid abscesses. If he is an inside cat, it will calm him down and stop him from wanting out all the time. All the luck!

Yeah, as I said, spraying is a problem you want to avoid.

Last year my cat (who is not a Bengal) had to have surgery on a luxated patella in her right knee. My previous two cats never had such issues, so I read up a lot on this topic so that I could know what was going on exactly with luxated patellas. While doing research on this prior to surgery, nearly everything I came across in my reading mentioned that Bengals are a breed that do have a few health issues connected to them, and definitely a hereditary tendency to experience luxated patellas was one of them. It takes hard work by a breeder and top quality Bengals to work to get this hereditary issue out of Bengal lines. Three other main health issues for Bengals (from my reading last year) could be progressive retinal atrophy, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and a sensitivity to anesthesia (anesthetic allergies that can lead to cardiac arrest).

I read about that too, but retinal atrophy and cardiomyopathy were supposedly linked to a concrete lineage of the breed, and thus, easily avoidable if you chose your cat from a different line. Of course, It is difficult to know because some articles state that bengals are super healthy cats and some others say that they can have cardio problems le dysplasia.
My opinion is that there is a big chance that any health issues are linked to inbreeding and the kind. Whenever there is a big enough gene pool, genetic issues are easy to avoid, and this is why It is so important to choose wisely in the process of breeding foundation bengals.
Sorry to hear about your cat, I hope he is fine now.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

My opinion is that there is a big chance that any health issues are linked to inbreeding and the kind. Whenever there is a big enough gene pool, genetic issues are easy to avoid, and this is why It is so important to choose wisely in the process of breeding foundation bengals.

Alejandra Rico - Unfortunately, this presupposes that the cats are being bred by careful, ethical breeders who test appropriately and who choose their Queens and Studs with the greatest caution - and who are either sufficiently conversant with examining DNA markers or who are willing to pay a geneticist to do so for them. Theoretically, little else is required to produce healthy kittens - but the unfortunate truth is that so-called "back yard breeders" will always intercede, and will continue to inbreed, or to breed without making any examination of their breeding stock's soundness, therefor taking advantage of those who are unable or unwilling to pay the price for a cat bred by a professional breeder. What's your phrase for it - 'el trabajo según la paga,' no?
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[abyeb]

Alejandra Rico the unfortunate truth is that so-called "back yard breeders" will always intercede, and will continue to inbreed, or to breed without making any examination of their breeding stock's soundness, therefor taking advantage of those who are unable or unwilling to pay the price for a cat bred by a professional breeder. What's your phrase for it - 'el trabajo según la paga,' no?
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The sad thing is that, as Bengals become more popular than ever, more and more backyard breeders are popping up. Once when I was driving down the freeway and took an exit into a small town to get gas, I saw a handwritten sign posted by the road that said "Bengal kittens for sale" with a phone number.

 

[Alejandra Rico]

abyeb and 1CatOverTheLine of course you are right. Backyard breeders are usually super unethical and do whatever necessary for getting money as fast as possible. But well, I do not consider them "breeders" but just people who happen to have cats and put them together to see what comes out of it.
What I meant was that I do not think that there is an specific illness related to bengals just because they are bengals, there is nothing in they DNA making them prone to heart issues, except when bad breeding is involved, so a good quality bengal should not have any of the problems mentioned above, unlike some other breeds (I can only think about persian cats and their tendency to have UTI and other bladder/kidney related issues, but I guess you know what I mean).
For the cat that K Kokomo has, I would say that if he is 1/4 planes bengal, as @stefanz suggested, then there is enough domestic cat in him to be on the safe side even if the bengal in him was from a backyard breeder, as moggies have natural selection and thus cardio and luxated patelas problems are less common. If he is 1/2 bengal, then we would have to consider if this issues are recesive or dominant. If they are recesive, It would be necessary both for the moggie and the bengal to have the genes in them for them to occur at the same time in the boy. If they are dominant, then chances of having the issue are bigger, of course, but once more I think the moggie wouldn't have this issues, so It would be a 50% chance if the bengal was heterocigotic for the traits mentioned. I really think there shouldn't be any problem with his health because of his bengal origins.
As regards to anestesia, most bengals are already neutered when they go to their new families, so they have all survived without problems, so to say. As long as you have a good vet who does things well, there should be no problems.
1CatOverTheLine I am not familiar with that saying (though it does make sense) but there is something similar in meaning un the region of Spain where I live "por poco dinero, poco meneo", which means that you cannot expect quality or long term use for something that is too cheap.

 

[Kokomo]

Thank you all for your help! There are a few byb who claim to have Bengals around my area, so maybe he came from one of them. I have noticed that he is starting to get a bit of an almost metallic shine. I will post updates on him and how his coat progresses, and just how big he ends up.

 

[Kokomo]

I have some new questions for you Bengal experts on here. Kokomo is still growing, as of last night he is almost 34 inches from his nose to the tip of his tail. He also has a slight kink in the tip of his tail. Damaged before I got him? Or a genetic thing do you think?

He has also started to develop a new thing with food. He has always eaten a ton, but now he is also trying to steal my dog's food from her. He will try for her's, go for the other cat's, and then when he is thwarted go back to his own food. He gets the exact same as the other cats do, so it isn't that he doesn't like his. At least I don't think. Is trying to steal all the food something that they do regularly?

He is super playful, thankfully one of our other adult cats, who is still bigger than him at the moment, plays and wrestles with him, so he is learning how to play like a cat. But he also like toes, so when you are standing he will come attack, hold on, and start licking like crazy. He is really good with his claws and teeth, thankfully, but I am working on teaching him appropriate limits for play with humans. He is the only cat I have been around that is quite this into my feet and toes, and I was wondering if that is kinda common, or if he just really like feet.

I have also started teaching him some tricks, right now we are working on standing up to get picked up. He is a super fast learner, so we are having fun with that.

Thanks for all your help! And, just because he is too cute.

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Good to know your baby is doing well!
As for the king in his tail, I have no idea, I have never read about a bengal with a genetic kink in his tail, but that is not saying much, as probably no one would breed a cat with this trait. It is possible that as a kitten he got his tail broken and now you are noticing the kink as he grows.
As regards to his new eating habbit, he seems to need the other cats (and you) to tell him that he cannot steal someone else's food. Freya does It too, but Raistlin is on adult's food, so that might be related to flavour.
All my cats have been quite fond on feet as kittens, my Persian X still is at 9 years old.
I hope he keeps developing his intelligence learning tricks, these are cats that do really like pleaing their owned (almost like dogs).

 

[Kokomo]

Thank you Alejandra Rico ! He has been fun to try to teach stuff to, and seems to enjoy it. I don't mind his playing with my feet and toes, as long as he remembers I break easier than his cat playing buddy. He does drool like crazy! So that is fun.

Question on his coloring. If I understand correctly, these rosettes that are starting to get more light color in the middle will continue changing for a while, yes? I love watching animals coats change as they mature. So much fun!

His coat in general seems to be changing texture some. You can see the difference between his and what I consider more of a normal shorthair here. (This is his best friend)

Then a teeth question. I was finally able to get a picture of his teeth, and my vet is not worried about it, but, his right upper canine is damaged. Is that something that is likely to cause problems in the future? You can kind of see in this picture, it is missing the tip.

Thank you all for your help and ideas!

 

[Alejandra Rico]

Question on his coloring. If I understand correctly, these rosettes that are starting to get more light color in the middle will continue changing for a while, yes? I love watching animals coats change as they mature. So much fun!

Yes, indeed. Most bengal breeders usually describe this process as if the pattern "opens up". I regularly take pictures of Freya's pattern so I can compare them to see how it evolves, and I think It will make a pretty album some day. If you do the same, I am sure some other bengal X owners Will find It useful to see how a non standard marble bengal can change through the first two years of life.

 

[RoyalPains270]

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Bobcats are only interfertile with Lynx rufus, Lynx lynx and Lynx canadensis, but not with domestic cats. Bobcats are a wholly different genus and species from the Domestic Cat.
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I’m sorry but they do crossbreed. You are misread or have been misinformed. It isn’t an every day occurance but it does happen. ‘Housecats’, Lynx, Bobcats, etc are classified in the same feline family.